Kayo
Kosuke Osaka (born September 29, 1981), best known by the ring name, Kayo, is an American professional wrestler of Japanese and Filipino descent. He is currently working for XWA. Early Career Born Kosuke Osaka in 1981 in New Jersey by his immigrant parents, Osaka had grown up showing an extreme interest in puroresu. His interest in the sport eventually brought him all the way to the continent of Asia thanks to a scholastic scholarship, but even as Kayo's mental aptitude had taken him everywhere thus far in his life, he still had the hunger for physical competition. So by the beginning of his sophomore year at Waseda University in Tokyo, Kayo enrolled in several prominent wrestling schools. By the end of his stay in Japan, Kayo had trained in such schools as the NJPW dojo, Ultimo Dragon's Toryumon dojo, and TAKA Michinoku's Kaientai dojo. But along with physical training, Kayo also archived extensive information on wrestling techniques and moves in the form of notebooks and videotapes. Even this early in his life, Kayo registered with an IQ bordering genius. Kayo wrestled as a freelancer around smalltime promotions in Japan for a few years before traveling back to the United States and remaining under the radar in indy wrestling. Xtreme Wrestling Alliance In early August of 2006, Kayo signed a developmental contract with upstart promotion Xtreme Wrestling Alliance, and had a tryout match of sorts on their now-defunct B-show, Breakdown, along with several other promising lightweight wrestlers. The XWA bookers, impressed by his ability, signed him to a contract and already put him in the running for a Cruiserweight 6-Man match for #1 Contendership to the XWA Cruiserweight Championship. However, a few weeks before the match at XWA's Blood Red Summer show, Kayo chose to answer an open challenge by XWA Pure Champion Jason Artemius for a Pure title shot at the Pay-Per-View, thereby forfeiting his spot in the Cruiserweight match. Kayo came up short, but the intense match impressed both fans and wrestlers backstage. At the XWA's appreciation show in Lebanon, Kayo opened the night with a show-stealing match against XWA veteran Sparx. After the match, Kayo revealed an anti-Xtreme alliance with the vampiric resident of XWA, Wilhelm "Night's Terror" Jaeger. Over the following weeks, Kayo and Wilhelm Jaeger would preach against the 'low-brow' wrestling styles of the Xtreme division, threatening to destroy it. During this tenure as Pure Division crusaders, Kayo received his first loss of many against Jamie Starrsplash, complete with appearance by Dee Snider. However, on the 29th of September, Kayo's birthday, he and Wilhelm Jaeger were booked in a Tag Team Title Match against the powerhouse stable Zenith, which they won after trapping James Harrier between the ropes and brutalized Joe Roberts. At XWA's next Pay-Per-View, Deadlock, Kayo received his second defeat at the hands of Jamie Starrsplash, this time in a match for the #1 Pure Title Contendership. At XWA Pick the Poison, Kayo lost another Pure contendership triple threat, even after previously winning a huge upset victory against James Harrier. The following week, Kayo and Jaeger lost their tag team titles in a disappointing loss against the Dalton Brothers. Redeeming himself with a win against up-and-coming hotshot The S, Kayo was thrust into a four-way feud over the XWA World Championship between himself, Joe Roberts, Shane McCool, and champion Irish Virus, who retained the belt after forcing McCool to submit, although the match seemed to be dominated by Kayo and the Irish Virus throughout. After this, Kayo entered as one of the participants in the XWA King of Kings tournament for another shot at the XWA World Heavyweight Title. In the first round, Kayo defeated Havik, despite a great weight and height disadvantage. In the second round, Kayo was pitted against cruiserweight notables Sparx and Jay Money, but came out with another victory thanks to dissent between his opponents. In the semifinals, Kayo faced Jason Artemius, the man whom he lost to in his first XWA title shot. The match eclipsed the initial encounter, but Kayo won a hard-fought victory with a modified One Hit KO. Unfortunately, in the finals, Kayo was faced with long-time nemesis Jamie Starrsplash, whom he succumbed to once again, thanks to an appearance by rock god Ronnie James Dio. Distraught by his tournament, Kayo took out his frustrations on time-traveling fan favorite RVF, leading to a confrontation with XWA mainstay Sparx. Over the following weeks, Kayo would mock Sparx's signature mannerisms during his matches, as well as threatening to shut down an episode of XWA Collision, leading to another confrontation between the two. General manager Gregor Magnum set up a tag team match for Sparx & Kayo at XWA Self Sacrifice, with each man choosing their own 'mystery' partner. Kayo revealed his partner to be chronic opponent Jamie Starrsplash early on, but Sparx had more trouble finding a friend in the locker room after his previous tenure as resident arsehole, a point which Kayo scrutinized by sending dud wrestlers to be his mystery partner. Sparx's partner was revealed to be sworn enemy the Irish Virus, but even with a combination of that potency, Kayo and Jamie Starrsplash came out the victors, with the finish of the match including Kayo T-Kayo-ing Sparx off the ring apron to the outside of the ring after a failed X Rater attempt by Sparx. The next week, Kayo called out Sparx for being stale and washed-up, pointing out the fact that he reversed the X Rater at Self Sacrifice as a sign of his predictability. Sparx fired back with a challenge for Gateway to Glory II in a 30 Minute Ironman Match, which Kayo accepted. However, an added stipulation to the match was that both Sparx using his X Rater and Kayo using his One Hit KO were banned. Kayo scored the first pinfall in the match with a modified knucklelock piledriver, but Sparx quickly tied the match back up with a Water Wheel Slam-to-Jacknife cradle. This tie held until 29 minutes and 57 seconds into the match, where Kayo reversed a Sparx Cradle Driver into a Victory Roll, snatching the winning pin fall. Kayo recently won a Fatal 4-Way at XWA Land of the Rising Stars, winning a title shot for the XWA World Heavyweight Championship. Titles Held * ' Xtreme Wrestling Alliance (XWA)' :* XWA World Tag Team Titles (1), with Wilhelm Jaeger :* XWA King of Kings Tournament 2007 Finalist Wrestling Facts *'Finishing and signature moves' ::*''One Hit KO'' (Standing Diamond Dust) ::*''T-Kayo'' (Exploder to Sit-out Piledriver/Powerbomb) ::*''No Guard Suplex'' (Face-to-Face Full Nelson Release Suplex) ::*''Special K'' (Inverted Snapmare to Texas Piledriver) ::*''Burnt Toast #3'' (Inverted Asai DDT/Shiranui) ::*''Supernova Star Press'' (Imploding Senton Bomb) ::*''Asian Evasion'' (Moonsault or cartwheel over opponent near the turnbuckle, usually followed by a dropkick into the turnbuckle) ::*''Kamikaze'' (Alabama Slam-style back-to-belly hold or standing waistlock reversal into a rolling slam, similar in effect to the Finlay Roll/Green Bay Plunge) ::*''Kamikaze II'' (Crucifix Powerbomb Roll into Back-to-Back facecrusher) ::*''Backslide Bomb/B.S.B'' (Sweeping Backslide cradle off top-rope) ::*''Neck Scissors DDT'' (Sideways neck scissors to a standing opponent, swung down into a DDT using the legs) ::*''No Guard Bomb'' (Lifted Face-to-Face Full Nelson into Sitout Powerbomb) ::*''Kannonball'' (Somersault Senton to an opponent seated in the corner) ::*''Shining Strangle'' (Shining Wizard-esque stepping off knee into Figure-Four Neck Lock) ::*Reverse Rotation Enziguiri ::Straitjacket hold variations ::*Springboard front dropkick ::*Double springboard corkscrew double stomp ::*Feint Asai DDT to stunner ::*Inverted sit-out hip toss ::*Inverted Lung Blower (to the neck area, often preceded by sunset flip, crucifix pin, or back body drop reversal) ::*Flipping Flash Kick (Jay Lethal style) ::*Rolling Thunder to Cactus Clothesline ::*Lifting full nelson wheelbarrow facebuster ::*Spinning fireman's carry to sit-out powerbomb ::*Argentine backbreaker to wheelbarrow facebuster ::*Twisting back suplex variations (Tiger/Dragon/German/Fisherman/Belly-to-Belly/Electric Chair; instead of lifting, performing a quick side roll to land the opponent on their head) ::*Running spear to Jacknife cradle ::*Flapjack followed by varying strike as opponent falls ::*Mushroom stomp reversal to Powerbomb ::*Mat slam onto knee, followed by knife-edge chops while still on knee ::*Repeated double stomps to limbs, chest, head etc. ::*Reverse dropkick/Double mule kick ::*Face-down bridging Texas cloverleaf or Boston crab Trivia :*Kayo coined the moniker "Incredibly Large-O-Tron" for the XWA Arena's big screen. :*Kayo holds a win against every wrestler he has ever faced, except for current XWA World Championship, Jamie Starrsplash. :*Kayo's promos are notable for tending to run through a large group of XWA wrestlers and insult each of them, at one point actually mentioning every wrestler on the XWA roster. :*On several occasions, XWA veteran Sparx has made romantic advances towards Kayo, which were sadly unrequited. External links *Official XWA Website K K K K